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I want to “Be the Change” but I don’t know how

Ok friends, I need your help. I have a conundrum, a problem if you will and I want to do something about it. However, I don’t have a blasted idea on how to go about making that happen.

You hear everywhere that we are supposed to “Be the change” we want to see in the world. And while that’s all pretty & nice and everything, it’s kind of an empty platitude if just simply living said change, doesn’t do a bloody thing to help anyone else. Or worse yet, if that change won’t happen just simply by behaving differently in your own life.

I want to change a law. More specifically, I want to have a law put in place that requires drug companies to be transparent about their ingredient and list (at minimum) the top allergens in their medication.

Currently drug companies aren’t required to divulge if their medications (both OTC and RX) contain gluten, soy, etc. There are no “Contains” labels or even “May Contain” ones on medications. They don’t have to tell us if there is a chance that the medicines we need to gain health, to control symptoms to relieve pain could cause us physical damage, more pain and in some cases, life threatening results.

They basically have to tell us diddly squat about what’s in the “magic pills” we take to make ourselves better. Sure the labels list the ingredients but some of those things are derived from all sorts of sources, including those of high allergen base. It’s also hard to research the source of those ingredients online because we often don’t know their supplier. And to top it off, while you can call the manufacturer, it can take sometimes days to get an answer back as to a medications ingredients/safety, leaving the affected person in a really bad place – take them & hope they’re safe, or wait & risk getting more ill.

It scares me. Not just for Audrey with her Celiac but for the kids we know who have severe food allergies, and selfishly for me with my corn allergy (see sidebar).

Side Bar: So corn is NOT on the top allergen list, but I’m holding out hope that one day it will be. I have yet to find a pill form of antibiotic that I can take and it’s scary. I either take it orally and suffer to the point of almost not being able to stand up straight or I go for IV medications. Neither of which are useful and/or viable options.

I’m willing to do something to change it, I just don’t know what.

How does one go about lobbying for this kind of change? Where do you start? Who can help? How much money does it cost? What else do I need to know?

I realize it’s not a cut and dry sort of situation, and I certainly don’t have all the details ironed out of what we even need, but I do believe we NEED a change. I do my best to live authentically and to tell people exactly what’s in the food I make. Which is all good but my own personal transparency isn’t going to do a thing for this cause.

So…I’m reaching out to you. To the internet. To my friends. To your friends. To the world and asking for help – how do we make a change? More importantly, who wants to make the change with me!

Please comment below if you have any suggestions or feel free to comment on our Facebook page or email me at admin@ourfamilystone.org. If you’re so inclined I’d also appreciate a share of this post. You never know, who knows whom and what banding together can do!

We do need to Be the Change we want to see in the world, even if that “being” means, being persistent enough to fight for what is right!